Making essential upgrades to West Virginia roads and bridges, broadband, water and sewer, creating jobs, economic opportunity for the future
Washington, D.C. – Congressman David B. McKinley, P.E. (WV-01), joined Governor Jim Justice and Senator Shelley Capito Tuesday to announce the progress on completing Corridor H and discuss the how the project will enhance economic development and improve quality of life in the region.
“I’m proud to join Governor Justice and Senator Capito to make good on the promise we made to the people of West Virginia to finish Corridor H. After 50 years of waiting, we finally have the resources to connect the towns of Parsons and Davis and West Virginia to other states in the region, moving Corridor H much closer to the finish line,” said Rep. McKinley.
Excerpts from Rep. McKinley's remarks:
“50 years later we still haven’t finished it… because it’s in this rural section of West Virginia, it kind of gets pushed aside”
“The infrastructure bill, it wasn’t a hard vote at all. This is what we needed in West Virginia – to get this infrastructure.
“US News and World Report ranked us last in the nation… before the American Society of Engineers published its report card about our conditions of infrastructure in West Virginia, where they rank us last, D’s and F’s. So just think about that: if your son or daughter came back home from school with a report card that had D’s and F’s on it, what would you do? You’d do something about it.
“There are people saying we should wait. Folks, we’ve waited 50 years for this. This is not a time to be waiting. This is going to give us the infrastructure we need, its going to give us access and give us jobs.
“All these are positive things. Don’t wait. And don’t tell me that these are wasteful spending that’s in this legislation. Is this bridge wasteful spending?
“Think about that. This is a chance for us to emerge.
“With this infrastructure bill, combined with leadership….We are going to move forward.”
In the News...
WBOY: Gov. Justice approves Cheat River Bridge on Corridor H
“I knew about the issues with our roads before the American Society of Civil Engineers published their report card about our conditions in West Virginia where they rank us last – D’s and F’s,” Congressman McKinley said. “This about it: if your son or daughter came back home from school and they had a report card with D’s and F’s on it, what would you do? You’d do something about it. And Jim Justice has done something about it. He’s made a commitment to roads in our state.”
WV NEWS: West Virginia officials announce Corridor H bid award
“If you go back just five or six years ago, working with Gov. Justice, he said then that Corridor H was the most important highway project he wanted to do in West Virginia,” McKinley said. “If Corridor H had been connected to Charleston or Wheeling or Parkersburg or Morgantown, it would have been finished by now. But because it’s in this rural section in West Virginia, it was kind of just pushed aside, people just ignored it until Governor Justice came on board. Now, with the governor, we’re going to push this thing forward and finish this. It’s time.”
WV METRO NEWS: Officials announce awarded bid for Corridor H bridge
Plans for building Corridor H were presented in the 1960s, but significant construction would begin in the 1970s as other completion efforts were delayed multiple times.
“If this Corridor H had been connected to Charleston or to Wheeling or to Parkersburg, it would have been finished by now,” McKinley said. “Because it’s in this rural section of West Virginia, it just kind of got pushed aside.”
WDTV: Gov. Justice approves award of Cheat River Bridge project on Corridor H
Congressman McKinley, himself an engineer, said that major infrastructure projects like Corridor H are exactly what is needed in West Virginia.
“I knew about the issues with our roads before the American Society of Civil Engineers published their report card about our conditions in West Virginia where they rank us last – D’s and F’s,” Congressman McKinley said. “This about it: if your son or daughter came back home from school and they had a report card with D’s and F’s on it, what would you do? You’d do something about it. And Jim Justice has done something about it. He’s made a commitment to roads in our state.”
THE INTER-MOUNTAIN: Corridor H Progress
“What’s bothered me about Corridor H is that it has been 50 years, we started in an interchange in Weston in 1972 under Arch Moore, Shelley’s father,” McKinley said. “And over the years if Corridor H would have been connected to Charleston, or to Wheeling or Parkersburg, it would have been finished by now. But because it’s in the rural section of West Virginia, it’s just kind of got pushed aside. People just ignored it until Gov. Justice came on board. Now with the governor, we are going to push this thing forward and finish it.”
Original source can be found here.
